Dido and Pa

by Joan Aiken

Paperback, 2002

Status

Available

Series

Wolves Chronicles (Chronological Order) (7)

Wolves Chronicles (Publication Order) (6)

Genres

Publication

HMH Books for Young Readers (2002), 304 pages

Description

Dido becomes embroiled with villainous plotters against the king, including her own wicked father.

User reviews

LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26

One of the darkest entries in Aiken's Wolves Chronicles, and by far my favorite of the lot, Dido and Pa picks up exactly where The Cuckoo Tree left off, with the long-awaited reunion of Dido and Simon. But the friends' joys is cut short when Dido finds herself kidnapped by her father, Abednego

Twite, and once again embroiled in a convoluted Hanoverian conspiracy. With a royal doppelganger, the discovery of a previously-unknown sister, and a reunion with a long-lost one; a horde of vicious wolves (*sigh*), a secret society of street children, and a suspenseful final escape sequence, Aiken once again offers a dizzying selection of narrative delights.

This novel, by far the most powerful and emotionally stirring work in the series, is dominated by the figure of Abednego Twite, who as Dido's negligent and sometimes menacing father-figure, is emblematic of Aiken's take on adults in the child's world. Simultaneously tragic and comical, brilliant, tawdry, completely unreliable, and wholly amoral, Twite is still somehow strangely appealing, perhaps because we see him through the veil of Dido's longing. Undoubtedly one of Aiken's masterpieces, Twite's demise is both richly deserved and deeply lamentable, and it is precisely this emotional ambiguity that speaks to the reader in a way not seen in precious titles.

As an aside, it is interesting to note that although Edward Gorey covers are now all but synonymous with Aiken's series, this was actually only the second novel (after The Wolves of Willoughby Chase) that originally had Gorey cover illustrations.

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LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey

Hmmph. I said the previous book, The Cuckoo Tree, rounded off Simon and Dido's adventures nicely. This one extends from there quite elegantly - Twite shows, far more than before, just what a nasty, vicious fellow he is, despite his wonderful songs. He always looked weak (and addicted to drink) and

easily led, but here we see what he comes up with himself and it's nastier - if pettier - than any of the grand Hanoveran schemes he gets caught up in. Dido goes along rather too easily. And I cannot figure out how old she is - well, she says she doesn't know, but it could be calculated from all her various adventures. Sometimes she's quite childish, trusting (or at least unquestioningly obeying) her father; sometimes she's quite adult and capable. And Simon's offer at the end is a little creepy if she's 10 or 12, quite reasonable if she's 16 or 18...and I have no idea. I do like the Birthday League, and the bad guys get very appropriate endings. By the way, I think this is the first time I've read this book - oddly enough, since I've read Is Underground at least a couple times before and this is the book that introduces Is.

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